Clothes drying cabinet with a biased rotary drum



Nbv. 3, 1964 c. E. ERICKSON ETAL 3,155,462

CLOTHES DRYING CABINET WITH A BIASED ROTARY DRUM Filed Oct. 51. 1961 3Sheets-Sheet 1 ENTOR.

INV CLIFFORD E. ERICKSON S EORGE M. STONE ATTORNEY A 1964 c. E. ERICKSONETAL 3,155,462

CLOTHES DRYING CABINET WITH A BIASED ROTARY DRUM Filed Oct. 31. 1961 aSheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7

INVEN TOR. CLIFFORD E. ERICKSON BgEORGE M. STONE W Quad 9' ATTORNEY 6 c.E. ERIICKSON ETAL 3,

CLOTHES DRYING CABINET WITH A BIASED ROTARY DRUM Filed Oct. 31 1961 3Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 9

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ATTQRNEY ll5 V. 60 C. A.C.

United States Patent 3,155,462 CLOTI-ES DRYING CABINET WITH A BIASEDRGTARY DRUM Clifford E. Erickson, Chicago, and George M. Stone,

This invention relates to clothes drying apparatus, and in particular,to a clothes dryer providing for the tumbling of clothes in a dryingchamber of which only one wall or a major portion of one wall isrotatable.

The domestic clothes dryer art appears presently to be founded on twobroad types of appliance: the simple cabinet type in which articleswhich should not be tumbled, such as sweaters, hosiery and the like, arehung in an atmosphere of moving warm air, and the rotating drum type inwhich the articles of laundry are tumbled in a similar atmosphere. Thesetwo types of dryers are not actually interchangeable'for use in aparticular sense, for even in tumbler dryers in which the drum rotatingmechanism may be disconnected without interfering with the blowing andair heating means, the space limitation of the drum and the conventionalfront loading requirement preclude the hanging of clothing so as toderive maximum benefit from the dryer operation. It is, of course,obvious that it would be impractical to attempt to dry sheets or otherlarge articles in a stationary cabinet dryer, for it would be necessaryto fold the damp sheets to a size consistent with the cabinet size andto hang or drape the sheets over rods or the like within the cabinet.

It is known also that in rotating drum dryers of the sotermed automatictype in which, by means of timing switches and condition-sensingdevices, the operation of the dryer is terminated upon attainment ofpreselected time or factors such as temperature or dampness of theclothes, it is diflicult accurately to sense either the temperature orthe dampness of the articles of clothing, for if the condition-sensingdevices are not in the wall of the drum so as actually to be contactedby the articles of clothing as they tumble within the drum, thetemperature or humidity condition which is sensed is only anapproximation, at best. To mount such devices in the wall of aconventional rotating drum requires slip rings or the like to establishthe electrical connections. These arrangements are quite unsatisfactory,for the humid atmosphere in which they must operate accelerates thedeterioration of the contacting surfaces.

It is therefore an object of our invention to provide a clothes dryerwhich may be eificiently and easily employed to tumble-dry and tostill-dry articles during a single operation of the dryer.

It is another object of the invention to provide a clothes dryer of thetumble-action type in which the major portion of the drying chamber isstationary, thus lending itself to the efficient and economical mountingof thermostats or hygrostats in optimum locations for sensing thephysical condition of the articles being dried.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a clothes dryerof the tumble-action type in which the drying chamber permits of loadingfrom the top, from the front, or from either side. 7

It is a further object of the invention to provide a clothes dryer ofthe tumble-action type in which the facilities for loading the dryer aresuch that the dryer may optionally be installed as a free-standingappliance It is yet another object of the invention to provide a clothesdryer of the tumble-action type in which the tumbling mechanism is lightin weight and may be rotatably supported on a single structural elementwhich forms a part of the blower casing and the air-heating chamber.

In a presently available form of our invention, we utilize a rectangularexterior cabinet in which the front to-rear dimension is 24 inches, andtherefore, of a depth compatible with the depth of the averageundercounter cabinet. The width of the cabinet is only about 18 inches,and the height is compatible with the normal clearance below a 36-inchhigh countertop. An upper portion of the front cabinet panel'and aportion of the top wall of the cabinet may comprise a hinged loadingdoor, whereupon the dryer may be loaded from the front, top, or eitherside with equal facility. Within the cabinet, arranged obliquely to allof the walls thereof and extending from the bottom to the top, weprovide a main structural member comprising a rigid plate which supportsa drivemotor, a fan and fan housing, a plenum chamber, and bearingstructure for the tumbling mechanism. We find it advantageous to inclinesaid plate rearwardly; an inclination of between 10 and 20 degrees fromthe vertical gives excellent operational results. The oblique positionand rearward inclination of the support plate makes it possible. torotatably mount thereon a conical or frustoconical structure which willbe in a posture looking upwardly toward a front corner of the cabinet.This frustoconical structure comprises a wall of a drying chamber inwhich all of the other walls are stationary. The oblique positioningmakes it possible for the diameter of the frusto-conical structure to besubstantially more than the actual width of the cabinet. Essentially,the

stationary portion of the drying chambercomprises a light sheet metalstructure having an angularly-related rear wall formed with a largeopening defined by a flange which enters the frusto-conical structure intelescoping relation therewith. Exterior decorative walls are placedabout the drying chamber structure. Means are provided 'to rotate thefrusto-conical wall structure and to introduce heated air through therear hub portion thereof; if desired, certain areas of the door orcabinet wall structure may be foraminated and provided with anappropriate lint-catching mechanism. In any event, the air flow isaxially directed relative to the frusto-conical wall as it enters thedrying chamber, but strikes front and side wall 'areas at an angle andis deflected thereby, thus producing a live air conditionthroughout thedrying chamber. In order to tumble the laundry articles within thismoving body of air we provide in the conical structure a plurality ofpaddles arranged to lift and release the articles for free fall throughthe air stream. It is a feature of the invention that the paddles do nottrap the articles in rubbing contact along the stationary wallstructures.

From the above brief description it will be appreciated that the majorportion of the drying chamber wall area is stationary and that saidstationary wall areas include a and temperature of the laundry articlesand to the actual temperature and humidity conditions of the dryingchamber atmosphere.

The preferred door arrangement of the cabinet, and also the facilitiesfor optional air discharge locations, make it. possible to employ asupplemental drying chamher or drying chamber extension within which maybe hung sweaters or other articles which should not be tumbled duringdrying. Actually, as will later be apparent, this non-tumbling dryingcan proceed contemporaneously with a normal tumble-dry operation, thusproviding a laundry-drying apparatus whichcan at one and the same timeperform two types of drying operation.

Other features and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed description of a presently preferred form, read inconnectionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective viewof a clothes dryer embodying ourinvention with the cabinet door in partly open position;

FIG. 2 is a view of the tumbling mechanism and support structure withoutthe enclosing drying chamber or cabinet;

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of the basic casing structure withoutthe upper and other external walls of the cabinet, to better show thearrangement of the sta tionary drying chamber;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional elevation taken in section immediately behindthe right side of the cabinet as viewed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view with most of the rear cabinet wallbroken away;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevation showing the tumbling cone supportstructure in section in a vertical plane taken through the axis ofrotation;

FIG. 7 is a partial side elevation of a dryer showing the application ofa supplemental stationary drying chamber;

7 FIG. 8 is a perspective view of such a supplemental chamber;

FIG. 9 is a front elevation showing a second form of stationary dryingchamber adapted to be supported on the top of the dryer cabinetrearwardly of the door thereof;

FIG. 10 is a side sectional elevation taken on lines 1010 of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is. a schematic control diagram.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3, our dryer comprises an inner cabinetstructure 1 of sheet metal to the exterior walls of which are attachedouter decoration panels forming side walls 2 and 3, a relativelyshorttop wall 4, and a lower front wall 5. .The rear of the structure 1is open, and will be fitted with a rear closure panel, shownfragmentarily in FIG. 5 at the lower left hand corner thereof. It willbe noted from FIG. 3 'that the interior .of this cabinet structure 1 hasa wall 6 which forms substantially all of the drying chamber. The topwall 7 of the structure 1 is only a partial wall, characterized by thelong angular portion 7.1 which establishes the general directionalrelationship of the rear of the drying chamber. The rear of the interiorwall 6 has a large circular opening 8 defined by a rearwardly extendingflange 8.1. As

will later be apparent, the opening 8 is not in a vertical plane butrather in a plane which inclines downwardly and forwardly from theportion 7.1, at an angle of about 18. The wall 6 intersects with thefront of the structure at the corner 9 and slopes downwardly from thereto merge into the lower portion of the opening 8. In brief, the wall 6is of rather complex curved shape to provide a stationary drying chamberenveloping the opening 8 and having a bottom wall sloping sharply to thebottom of the inclined opening 8.

This structure 1 may be of relatively light weight, for it rests uponthe rectangular structural base 10, the front wall 11 of which isforaminated to provide an air intake as later described. This basestructure has a fixed bottom wall or bottom brace 12 which provides thesupporting base for the member 14 which is the main structural supportfor all of the moving parts of the dryer. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and4, the member 14 is angularly positioned within the base and it inclinesrearwardly at the 18 angle of inclination of the plane of the opening 8.The member 14 is appropriately flanged and embossed for rigidity asindicated in FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, it will be noted that the relativelywide front face of the member 14 between its side flanges accommodatesthe mounting of the main drive motor 15 thereon and for mounting therespective driving and idler sheaves of the tumbling apparatus laterdescribed. The rear face provides a wall of the housing 16 of the blower17. Said blower is directly aflixed to an extension (not shown) of themotor shaft and as is conventional, draws air into the blower casingthrough the central inlet 18 and discharges it at the tangential outlet20, which communicates directly into the plenum chamber 21, of whichmember 14 also forms a wall. The plenum chamber accommodates an airheating mechanism which may be the appropriately supported and insulatedelectrical resistance coils 22, or any suitable gas-fired heat exchanger(not shown). In the clothes dryer art each of these air heating systemsis so well established as to make further description unnecessary. Therear wall 23 of chamber 21 cooperates with the plate 14 to accommodatethe shaft 24 of the clothes tumbler 25, FIG. 6, said shaft being freelyrotatable in the respective bearings 26 and 27. The tumbler 25 isfrusto-conical, having a truncated rear wall 28 to the center of whichthe shaft 24 is aifixed by any suitable means. Said wall 28 isforaminated and the plate 14 has slots 30 appropriately arrangedradially about the shaft 24. Air flows from the plenum chamber throughthe slots 30 and the openings in the wall 28. To minimize escape of airinto the cabinet we provide an annular seal 31 which may be of alubricant impregnated fibrous material such as felt.

The tumbler 25 has paddles 32 extending from its inner wall. Thesepaddles are preferably of eccentric arch shape, being of maximum depthnear the rim of the drum. One or both of the paddles may be radial tothe axis of rotation; we have found it advantageous, however, to haveone of them radial and the other nonradial. The non-radial paddle slopesaway from and in addition, leans away from, the direction of rotation ofthe tumbler, as suggested bythe upper paddle 32 in FIG. 2. The paddlesdo not project materially beyond the plane of the opening 8, andtherefore will not drag the clothes against the wall 6. The non-radialpositioning 'of one of the paddles causes it to deflect the articlesplaced about exterior surface of the flange 8.1 in sealing relation withthe rim 25.1.

The tumbler is arranged to be belt-driven by the sheave and idler systembest shown in FIG. 2. The sheave 35 of the motor shaft is belt connectedto a larger diameter sheave 36 idly rotatable on a shaft appropriatelymounted on the plate 14. Rearwardly of sheave 36 and advantageouslyintegral therewith is a small sheave 37 which drives the belt 38 whichencircles the rim 25.1 of thetumbler 25. To maintain the belt underappropriate tension and to insure its proper tracking on the rim 25.1,we may use any suitable arrangement of idler wheels 40, 41, 42. By wayof the speed reduction effectedby the various sheaves and the largediameter of the tumbler at its rim-which is of the order of 19 inchesaconventional 1725 r.p.m. appliance motor rotates the tumbler at 40 rpm.

It will be obvious that air issues in a substantially axial directionthrough the apertures at the base of the tumbler cone, but because theaxis of the cone is actually oblique to all of the walls of the dryingchamber which are in a facing relation to the cone, there is actuallymuch deflection of the air as it impinges on the chamber walls. Theresulting confused air pattern is very advantageous because it insuresthat all of the articles of clothing are exposed to a live aircondition. Heavier laundry articles such as towels and the like whichhave a greater moisture content, tumble within the more concentratedlair streams issuing through the apertures in .the wall 28, whereas thelighter articles, which may be of synthetic materials less absorbent inwater, tend to float toward the front portion of the casing.

The fact that the drying chamber is essentially stationary except forthe rotating tumbler cone which comprises a substantial portion of therear wall thereof makes it possible to adapt the dryer to a wider rangeof installation practices and use factors than in the conventionalrotating drum dryer. The loading door 43, for example, has a verticalportion 44 comprising a part of the front wall of the cabinet and ahorizontal portion 45 which forms a part of the top wall of the cabinet.Such a door can be hinged at the bottom of the portion 44, or at therear of the portion 45, or along either side edge of the portion 44. Inany event, opening the door affords access to the dryer chamber from thefront or from the top as well as from a side, for it is obvious that onestanding adjacent a side of the cabinet can readily reach into the dryerchamber through the space made available at the top and front as thedoor is opened. Also, the drying chamber provides for optional locationsfor the discharge of air from the chamber. As suggested in FIG. 4, thevertical portion 44 of the door may be forarninated and house aremovable lint catching screen 46 which may be slidably mounted betweenthe inner and outer door panels and removable through an aperture suchas the slot 47, FIG. 1. It will be understood that such a screen willhave a flange 48 which is normally in an overlying relation with theslot 47, and aflords a means for removing the screen. Alternatively, ofcourse, the screen could be placed in the portion 45. In situationswhere it is desirable to duct the exhaust to the exterior of thebuilding it is feasible to have a screened opening 49 in the upper frontportion of the chamber wall 6, as shown in FIG. 3. Said opening maycommunicate with a duct (not shown) within the dryer behind the wall 6.Such a duct in turn would discharge through the rear cabinet wall orthrough a knock-out provided opening (not shown) in the rear of the sidewalls. An-

tion is adaptable to drying articles which should not be tumbled, andthat both types of drying may be carried on concurrently. A simpleexpedient is the provision of brackets such as 52, FIG. 1, dependingfrom the door portion 45 at each side thereof and serving to mounttransversely extending rods over which small articles such as socksmaybe draped. a

More elaborate arrangements are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and in FIGS. 9and 10. In FIGS. 7 and 8 an auxiliary drying cabinet 53 is useful with adryer cabinet having a bottom hinged door. The auxiliary cabinetcomprises a box structure having a width adapting it to seat snuglywithin the main cabinet door space and provided with a gasket 54preferably of the magnetic type popular in refrigerators to seal againstthe adjacent metallic cabinet structure. A lower curved wall 55 may bescreened to prevent passage of lint into the cabinet 53 if said cabinetis being used to dry articles while the main dryer is tumble dryingclothing. The top wall 56 may also have a lint screen. These screens arereadily cleanable and need not be removable. A front door 57 hinged inany conventional manner aflords access to the hanger rod 58. I

The second form of auxiliary drying chamber 60 of FIGS. 9 and 10 isarranged to seat on the top panel 4 of the main dryer cabinet. Thechamber 60 has any suitably hinged door 61 affording access to thehanger rod 62. The top is provided with a lint screen 63. Liftinghandles 64 facilitate handling the drying chamber 60. The bottom wall isformed with an opening 65 im mediately beneath a bafiie or deflector 66.The opening 65 is screened as at 67, FIG. 10, and when the chamber is inposition on the cabinet, the opening 65 will register with the opening59 in the top panel 4 of the principal cabinet, it being understood thatwhen chamber 60 is used, the cap 51 will be removed. The baffle 66serves to distribute the air entering from the main dryer.

FIG. 11 is a schematic of a simplified dryer control circuit of thetime-temperature type. The heating elements 22 are illustrated as beingconnected across the conventional volt A.C. house lighting circuit,although it is more usual for heaters to be energized at 230 volts A.C.The motor 15 has a start winding 15.1 and a run winding 15.2 togetherwith a centrifugal switch 15.3, which is normally closed to connect bothwindings in parallel but opens as soon as the motor reaches'runningspeed to interrupt the start winding circuit and close against contact15.4 for continued motor operation on the run Winding. A secondcentrifugal switch 15.5 closes the circuit to the heater 22 when themotor is in its running condition, thus insuring that the heater is notenergized until the blower 17 is fully operative.

A conventional timing mechanism 76 has a motor 70.1 of the conventionalsynchronous Telechron type driving a cam shaft and cams (not shown)which control switch blades 70.2 and 70.3. These blades make or breakwith their respective associated stationary contacts 70.4 and 70.5according to the contours of the associated cams (not shown) as wellknown in the art. It is conventional to have the time switch operate asa master switch by providing means whereby displacing the cam shaftaxially in one direction closes the switch, and displacement. in theopposite direction opens the switch. See, for example, Patent 2,619,557,granted November 25, 1952, to D. F. lllian for Program Control Switch,and assigned to our present assignee. In theschematic diagram of FIG. llthe switch 76.5 represents this master switch. The con trol circuit mayalso include a door switch 71 as well known in the art, which isarranged to be closed when the door 43 is closed. Further, the circuitincludes a safety cut out thermostat 72 which may be a bimetal switchplaced to sense the air temperature immediately in advance of passagethrough the openings in the tumbler cone 25 as indicated in FIG. 5.Thermostat 72 is normally closed. It would open in the abnormalsituation of failure of the blower to circulate air over the heatingunits in adequate volume, for example, and upon opening would interruptoperation of all of the dryer components. Finally, the illustratedcircuit includes a cycling thermostat 73 which is placed to sense theairtemperature condition within the dryer chamber. This thermostat may, forexample, be placed in the wall 6 at any suitable location as suggestedin FIG. 3.

Briefly reviewing the operation of the dryer under control of .thecircuit of FIG. 11:

The user adjusts the dryer control knob (not shown) to establish thedesired overall time during which the dryer is to operate. Thisadjustment moves switches 70.2 and 70.3 to close with their associatedcontacts 70.4 and 79.5 respectively, and in so doing effects a manualrotation of the cams (not shown) so that the cams will return therespective switches to open position at the end of the selectedoperational period. Thermostats 72 and 73 will be in their normallyclosed condition; motor switch 15.3 will be closed to connect windings15.1 and 15.2 in parallel; switch 15.5 will be open. Assuming that the 7dryer is loaded and the door 43 closed, switch 71 is then closed. I

Manual operation of the timer cam shaft to close switch 70.5 will beginoperation of the dryer. The timer motor 71 will have been energized whenthe door switch is closed through conductor L2, closed switch 71, 72,switch 70.2, 70.4, the timer motor, and conductor 74 to L1. The mainmotor is energized through L2, closed switch 70.2 and 70.4, conductor75, the two motor field coils 15.1 and 15.2, conductor 76, closed switch70.5, and conductor 74 to L1. After the motor comes to running speed andswitch 15.3 closes with contact 15.4 the motor will continue to run onits run winding 15.2 and conductor 77 to L1. Also, when the motorattains running speed switch 1.5.5 will close to energize heating unit22 through the circuit comprising L1, conductor 77, closed thermostat73, conductor 78, closed switch 70.3, 0.5, and closed switches 72 and 71to L2.

It is well known that in a dryer operation the air temperature withinthe drying chamber rises to an intermediate level which is relativelystationary so long as moisture is being evaporated from the clothes.When the clothes are dry, however, the heat is no longer being used toevaporate moisture, the air temperature will rise quite sharply. Thethermostat 73 senses thi temperature increase and opens the heatercircuit which interrupts the operation of the heating coils withoutstopping the other components. The thermostat 73 will re-close as theinflow of relatively cooler air reduces the temperature to the degreecommensurate with the operational amplitude of thermostat'73. In themeantime, of course, the timer is continuing to rotate the cams whichcontrol the switches 70.2 and 70.3, and depending on the weight ofclothes in the dryer and the nature of the clothes, there may be one ormore cyclings of the thermostat 73 before the end of the time periodopens the switches 70.2 and 70.3 and signifies the end of the dryeroperation.

While there has been described What is at present thought to be thepreferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood thatvarious modifications may be made therein and it is intended to cover inthe appended claims all such modifications as fall within the truespirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A laundry drier comprising, in combination, a cabinet, stationarywall means in said cabinet to provide front, side and top walls and aportion of the rear wall of a chamber within which laundry articles arereceived to be dried, a loading door in said cabinet affording access tosaid chamber, a concave rotatable wall structure within said cabinet ininterfitting engagement with said stationary rear wall to complete saidarticle-receiving chamber, the concavity of said wall structure facingsaid loading door, shaft means for said rotatable wall, said shaft meansbeing oblique to all walls of said cabinet, and means on said concavewall structure to effect a tumbling of said articles within said chamberduring rotation of said wall structure, means for passing heated airthrough said chamber, and means for discharging said heated air fromsaid chamber.

2. A laundry drier according to claim 1, in which said article-tumblingmeans comprise paddle structures fixed to said concave wall structureand disposed substantially wholly within the concavity thereof.

3. A laundry drier comprising, in combination, a cabinet, structurewithin said cabinet providing a receptacle within which clothes are tobe dried, said receptacle being defined in part by wall structures inrectangular relationship and being stationary except for wall meansforming at least a major part of an end wall thereof, the base of saidreceptacle forming a fixed trough-like struc ture sloping toward saidend wall means, said base being adapted to gather the clothes and directthem against said end wall means, means for rotating said end wall meansabout an axis directed toward a front upper corner of said cabinet,paddle structures on said end wall means extending toward saidreceptacle to engage clothes to tumble the same within said receptacleduring rotation of said end wall means,'and means for eifecting movementof air axially through said rotating wall, whereby upon impingingagainst said cabinet walls said air is deflected for striking theclothes at varying angles during the tumbling thereof.

4. A laundry drier comprising, in combination, a cabinet, structurewithin said cabinet providing a receptacle within which clothes are tobe dried, said receptacle being stationary except for wall means formingat least a major part of an end wall thereof, the base of saidreceptacle forming a fixed trough-like structure sloping toward said endwall means, means for rotating said end wall means, structures on saidend wall means extending toward said receptacle to engage clothestherein to tumble the same within said receptacle during rotation ofsaid end wall means, means for effecting movement of air throughout saidreceptacle during rotation of said end wall means, and means for hangingarticles within said receptacle remote from said rotating wall butwithin the path of air movement within said receptacle.

5. A laundry drier comprising, in combination, a rectangular cabinet,structure within said cabinet providing a receptacle within whichclothes are to be dried, a loading door for said cabinet, saidreceptacle being stationary except for upwardly and rearwardly extendingwall means forming at least a major part of an end wall thereof remotefrom said loading door, the base of said receptacle forming atrough-like structure sloping toward said end wall means, means forrotating said end wall means, structures on said end wall meansextending toward said receptacle to engage clothes therein to tumble thesame within said receptacle during rotation of said end wall means,means for effecting movement of air throughout said receptacle duringrotation of said end wall means, means including cabinet structuremounted about the opening of said loading door to receive air flowtherethrough, and means within said cabinet for hanging articles to bedried in the air stream without tumbling, whereby both still-drying andtumble-drying may be effected simultaneously.

6. A laundry drier comprising, in combination, structure providing arectangular cabinet, wall means within said cabinet having a circularopening and fixed to interior front, side and top walls thereof andtogether there- 'with providing a chamber within which laundry articlesare to be dried, a frusto-conical structure disposed in said circularopening and forming a part of an end wall of said chamber, saidfrusto-conical structure having a foraminated central area, means formounting said frusto-conical structure for rotation about an axisoblique to said cabinet structure, means effecting an air-sealing jointbetween said fixed wall means and said frusto-conical structure, meansfor rotating said frusto-conical structure, paddle means on saidstructure to engage laundry articles to tumble them within said chamberduring rotation of said structure, a blower for introducing air intosaid chamber through said foraminated central area of saidfrusto-conical structure, means for operating said blower, a loadingdoor on said cabinet remote from said frustoconical structure to affordaccess to said chamber, and a lint screen in said door providing for theegress of air from said chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,328,256 Breckenridge Aug. 31, 1943 2,843,945 Vxhyte July 22, 19582,875,996 Hullar Mar. 3, 1959 2,878,580 Hughes Mar. 24, 1959 2,959,867Doty Nov. 15, 1960 2,983,050 Alaback May 9, 1961

1. A LAUNDRY DRIER COMPRISING, INCOMBINATION A CABINET, STATIONARY WALLMEANS IN SAID CABINET TO PROVIDE FRONT, SIDE AND TOP WALLS AND A PORTIONOF THE REAR WALL OF A CHAMBER WITHIN WHICH LAUNDRY ARTICLES ARE RECEIVEDTO BE DRIED, A LOADING DOOR IN SAID CABINET AFFORDING ACCESS TO SAIDCHAMBER, A CONCAVE ROTATABLE WALL STRUCTURE WITHIN SAID CABINET ININTERFITTING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID STATIONARY REAR WALL TO COMPLETE SAIDARTICLE-RECEIVING CHAMBER, THE CONCAVITY OF SAID WALL STRUCTURE FACINGSAID LOADING DOOR, SHAFT MEANS FOR SAID ROTATABLE WALL, SAID SHAFT MEANSBEING OBLIQUE TO ALL WALLS OF SAID CABINET, AND MEANS ON SAID CONCAVEWALL STRUCTURE TO EFFECTG A TUMBLING OF SAID ARTICLES WITHIN SAIDCHAMBER DURING ROTATION OF SAID WALL STRUCTURE, MEANS FOR PASSING HEATEDAIR THROUGH SAID CHAMBER, AND MEANS FOR DISCHARGING SAID HEATED AIR FROMSAID CHAMBER.